You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under
chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 140357.

The Mills Branch Village Community Association (the "association"), a property owners'
association which you represent, received a request for audit reports, results of board votes,
and an invoice. You previously submitted a letter, dated July 17, 2000, requesting this office
to determine whether the association was subject to the Public Information Act (the "Act").
In a letter dated July 27, 2000, this office determined that your request was not made
pursuant to section 552.301 of the Government Code because the Act is only triggered when
a governmental body receives a written request for information and you did not inform us
that the association received a request for information. You now assert that the association
received a request for information and have provided this office a copy of the request for
information. You still claim that the association is not subject to the requirements of the Act.
We have considered your arguments and those of the requestor. See Gov't Code § 552.304
(permitting a person to submit written comments to the attorney general).

Section 552.0035 of the Act states:

A property owners' association is subject to [the Act] in the same manner as
a governmental body if:

(1) membership in the property owners' association is mandatory for owners
or for a defined class of owners of private real property in a defined
geographic area in a county with a population of 2.8 million or more or in a
county adjacent to a county with a population of 2.8 million or more;

(2) the property owners' association has the power to make mandatory
special assessments for capital improvements or mandatory regular
assessments; and

(3) the amount of the mandatory special or regular assessments is or has ever
been based in whole or in part on the value at which the state or a local
governmental body assesses the property for purposes of ad valorem taxation
under Section 20, Article VIII, Texas Constitution.

Therefore, a property owners' association is subject to the Act only if it meets all three of the
enumerated requirements. You acknowledge, and we agree, that the association meets
enumerated items (1) and (2). However, you assert that the association is not subject to the
Act because the association does not meet item (3).

You have provided for our review the original Declaration of Covenants, Conditions and
Restrictions for the association (the "declaration"). In relevant part, Article IV, section 3 of
the declaration states that the "Until April 1 of the year immediately following the
conveyance of the first Lot to an Owner, the maximum annual assessment shall be ($200.00)
per Lot or Parcel; ($140.00) per Apartment; and ($2.00) per (100) square feet, or fraction
thereof, of Commercial Land." Section 3(a) of the declaration provides that after April 1 of
the year immediately following the conveyance of the first Lot to an owner, the maximum
annual assessment shall be adjusted in conformance with the Consumer Price Index (the
"CPI"). Thus, under the terms of the original declaration, the maximum annual regular
assessment rate is based on a certain dollar value which is adjusted pursuant to the CPI and
not "the value at which the state or a local governmental body assesses the property for
purposes of ad valorem taxation under Section 20, Article VIII, Texas Constitution."
Moreover, you represent to this office that the association does not now and never has based
its mandatory special or regular assessments, in whole or in part, on the value at which the
state or local governmental body assesses the property for purposes of ad valorem taxation.

However, the requestor claims that the amount of the assessment is based in part on the value
at which the state or a local governmental body assesses the property because the association
is assessed and pays ad valorem property taxes on community parks. However, we do not
believe that the association's payment of ad valorem property taxes is the equivalent of the
association basing its assessments on the values of the homeowners' ad valorem tax
assessments. Based on your representations and our review of the declaration, we agree that
the association does not meet the definition in section 552.0035(3) because we have no
information to indicate that any special or regular assessment is now or has ever been "based
in whole or in part on the value at which the state or a local governmental body assesses the
property for purposes of ad valorem taxation." Therefore, we conclude that the association
is not subject to the requirements of the Act.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular records at issue in this request and limited to the
facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous
determination regarding any other records or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the
governmental body and of the requestor. For example, governmental bodies are prohibited
from asking the attorney general to reconsider this ruling. Gov't Code § 552.301(f). If the
governmental body wants to challenge this ruling, the governmental body must appeal by
filing suit in Travis County within 30 calendar days. Id. § 552.324(b). In order to get
the full benefit of such an appeal, the governmental body must file suit within 10 calendar
days. Id. § 552.353(b)(3), (c). If the governmental body does not appeal this ruling and the governmental body does not comply with it, then both the requestor and the
attorney general have the right to file suit against the governmental body to enforce this
ruling. Id. § 552.321(a).

If this ruling requires the governmental body to release all or part of the requested
information, the governmental body is responsible for taking the next step. Based on the
statute, the attorney general expects that, within 10 calendar days of this ruling, the
governmental body will do one of the following three things: 1) release the public
records; 2) notify the requestor of the exact day, time, and place that copies of the records
will be provided or that the records can be inspected; or 3) notify the requestor of the
governmental body's intent to challenge this letter ruling in court. If the governmental body
fails to do one of these three things within 10 calendar days of this ruling, then the requestor
should report that failure to the attorney general's Open Government Hotline, toll free,
at 877/673-6839. The requestor may also file a complaint with the district or county
attorney. Id. § 552.3215(e).

If this ruling requires or permits the governmental body to withhold all or some of the
requested information, the requestor can appeal that decision by suing the governmental
body. Id. § 552.321(a); Texas Department of Public Safety v. Gilbreath, 842 S.W.2d 408,411 (Tex. App.-Austin 1992, no writ).

Please remember that under the Act the release of information triggers certain procedures for
costs and charges to the requestor. If records are released in compliance with this ruling, be
sure that all charges for the information are at or below the legal amounts. Questions or
complaints about over-charging must be directed to the General Services Commission
at 512/475-2497.

If the governmental body, the requestor, or any other person has questions or comments
about this ruling, they may contact our office. Although there is no statutory deadline for
contacting us, the attorney general prefers to receive any comments within 10 calendar days
of the date of this ruling.